Cardi B often incorporates risqué elements into her music, videos, and performances, which rubs some observers the wrong way. Cardi seems to derive great enjoyment from that, though, like when she recently laughed off the 1,000-plus complaints the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received regarding her and Megan Thee Stallion’s 2021 Grammys performance. The performance also bothered at least one high-profile politician in the House Of Representatives.
While speaking on the House floor this morning, Republican Representative Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin cited Cardi’s performance while criticizing the FCC and partially blaming them for “the moral decline of America.” He said, “I received complaints in my office, and rightfully so, about Cardi B and the Grammys. They wonder why we are paying the FCC if they feel that this should be in living rooms across the nation. I realize that Kamala Harris has used her fame to promote this performer, but I assure the FCC that millions of Americans would view her performance as inconsistent with basic decency. Wake up, FCC, and begin to do your job! The moral decline of America is partly due to your utter complacency.”
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) is complaining about @iamcardib’s Grammys performance and “the moral decline of America” on the House floor this morning. pic.twitter.com/gvBuAZTcQF
This news is still fresh, so Cardi has yet to respond to it, but based on her past reactions to this sort of criticism, it seems unlikely she will lose any sleep over it.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Doja Cat provided one of the highlights of this year’s Grammys ceremony with her futuristic performance of “Say So.” It turns out that was a special moment for her, since she “cried like a baby” (in a good way) after she left the stage.
She spoke about it with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, describing the post-performance scene:
“So I performed, it was the first time that I’d ever performed and then cried like a baby after. And I don’t do that, I don’t cry. I just get off stage and I’m like, ‘Yeah, we did it, yeah.’ But for this, literally the director for the whole thing, he came up to me and I was walking off stage and he was like, ‘Thank you so much. You were amazing.’ And I’m like, ‘[sobbing] Thank you.’ And we were rushing out and I couldn’t talk to him. And I was just dying. […] [It was] ugly, ugly. Everybody was holding each other’s shoulders and looking at each other. It was really, really corny, but it was the sweetest, greatest, most intimate moment I’ve ever had.”
She also talked about preparing for the performance, saying:
“I feel like when you think of a Grammy performance, it’s like, three months of rehearsal and like it’s a huge deal, blah, blah, blah. And it is, but we had two weeks to put this together. So we had the two weeks of rehearsal for choreography, but I think that the concept was definitely something that we had for two months, three months. So visually, all that was kind of locked in by the time we started dancing. So I rehearsed for two weeks and then it was really, really difficult at first. Look: we tried different prototypes. I did the boots at the end, but we were trying to do heels. Heels were like… it was scary, but I really wanted to try. It looked so good, it had such a good silhouette.”
There were a lot of winners (and losers and surprises) at this year’s Grammys, with two prime examples being Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Swift’s Folklore picked up the trophy for Album Of The Year while Beyonce snagged some awards as well, which helped her get more all-time Grammy wins than any singer ever. Now the pair have gotten in touch and recognized each other for their achievements, as Swift revealed today that this morning, she woke up to flowers from Beyonce.
Swift shared photos of the gift on Instagram today. With the flowers was a note, which reads, “Taylor, Congratulations on your Grammy. It was great seeing you on Sunday night. Thank you for always being so supportive. Sending love to you and your family. B.” Sharing the letter, Swift wrote, “Woke up to flowers from the queen of grace & greatness @beyonce and suddenly it’s the best Friday EVER. Thank you B and congratulations on your epic achievement Sunday night!!”
Reflecting on the Grammys after the fact, Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner had only kind things to say about Swift, as he wrote in an extensive message, “I am constantly humbled by and grateful for our friendship and collaboration. It’s such a strange thought that this time last year, we hadn’t even begun our journey together, since you are now such a big part of my life. You have restored my faith in music and the ways in which it can help me and others. In a year of such uncertainty and fear, I’m eternally grateful for the music we made. You generously shared your songwriting genius with me and others on these records — and made everyone involved feel appreciated and confident in their work. I can’t say enough positive things about you as an artist and a person.”
For one reason or another, it seems Cardi B is always facing some sort of criticism for one thing or another. The latest topic of Cardi criticism is her and Megan Thee Stallion’s recent Grammys performance of “WAP.” The song has earned plenty of critics due to its explicit nature and some people were floored that the track made it onto national television. Cardi is taking the criticism in stride, though.
Yesterday, she shared a video of a person sharing a tearful reaction to the song and added, “Really ? Over Wap?” Megan took to the comments to write, “She keep wiping her eyes and it ain’t even no damn tears [crying laughing emoji].”
She also responded from a tweet from cinematographer and Republican California gubernatorial candidate Errol Webber, who shared the video from earlier this year of Cardi turning off “WAP” when she noticed her daughter Kulture enter the room. He noted, “Cardi B cuts off WAP when her daughter, Kulture, walks into the room. She looks embarrassed. This is how you know Cardi B knows right from wrong, yet STILL deliberately chooses to do wrong by girating and scissoring her WAP on national TV… in view of other people’s kids.”
Cardi fired back, “The Grammies are PG .That means parental guidance.Meaning is your job like it is to mine to my child to monitor what they watch.My performance was around 10 pm on a Sunday Your child should be in bed ready for school the next day why are they up watching Wap?”
She also retweeted another response to Webber that read, “see how easy it is to turn off inappropriate music in front of ur kids instead of complaining and keeping it on.”
The Grammies are PG .That means parental guidance.Meaning is your job like it is to mine to my child to monitor what they https://t.co/gdNa1o7G3y performance was around 10 pm on a Sunday Your child should be in bed ready for school the next day why are they up watching Wap? https://t.co/iJAIpCxcyZ
Since its release last August, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s song “WAP” has been drawing in criticism from pearl-clutchers and conservatives who apparently think children are being taught to read the raunchy lyrics in school (they’re not). The controversy surrounding the song was reignited last week with the two rappers took the 2021 Grammys stage to put on a showstopping and extremely censored performance of the track. Even still, Cardi and Megan’s stage presence prompted many viewers to file complaints with the FCC.
Texas television station WFAA was able to obtain dozens of the complaints submitted to the FCC following Grammys night. Despite Cardi and Meg’s dance moves receiving many positive reviews on social media, WFAA reports that over 80 people submitted their grievances about the performance to the FCC. “The outfits they were wearing and the movements they did were absolutely disgusting,” one viewer from Idaho wrote. “This network should face very stiff penalties.”
Another FCC complaint from a viewer from Texas compared “WAP” to the six Dr. Seuss books that his estate decided to stop publishing due to racist imagery. “The media has a problem with Dr. Seuss, yet allows Cardi B to sing about her [WAP] on national television,” they wrote.
They weren’t the first one to compare Cardi’s performance to the Dr. Seuss book discontinuation. Earlier this week, a conservative comedian said “WAP” is “more welcome in some schools than Dr. Seuss books,” which prompted a response from Cardi herself. The rapper, who has admitted to shielding her daughter’s ears from the track, told the comedian to “stop comparing a sensual song to books that has RACIST content,” adding: “How can ya not tell the difference?I see that common sense aint that common.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
This year was Chika‘s first time being nominated for a Grammy. She was up for Best New Artist, meaning she turned up to the awards show in style. She was dressed head-to-toe in a pastel Nike sweatsuit, complete with a trench coat and matching mask. After fans swooned over her outfit, the rapper shared a closer look at how Nike custom-made her clothes.
Detailing the process in a series of tweets, Chika shared a few mock-up images the designer had sketched for her. The trench coat was also made of sweatshirt material and was hand tie-dyed alongside the other pieces. “Nike LA & @iCONtips made a 1 of 1 track suit and hand dyed coat for me with colors i picked, i found the perfect bag, and we pulled this all off over iMessage convos,” she explained. “and made the custom mask less than a day before the show. they went the hell off.”
Nike LA & @iCONtips made a 1 of 1 track suit and hand dyed coat for me with colors i picked, i found the perfect bag, and we pulled this all off over iMessage convos.
and made the custom mask less than a day before the show.
#GRAMMYs glam ! Makeup Artist Alana Wright created a beaming beauty beat on award-nominee @oranicuhh with a full-face lineup of M·A·C must-haves. Get ahead of the holographic trend on Instagram! pic.twitter.com/BCcIMfqvMb
While she didn’t end up winning the Best New Artist nod, Chika did put her own spin on a cover of a previous Best New Artist’s track. Ahead of her appearance at the awards show, she took on Billie Eilish’s 2020 track “My Future” for Spotify, infusing it with her own style. About the cover, Chika said: “I picked ‘My Future’ by Billie Eilish as my [Best New Artist] cover for Spotify because the song is beautiful and presents an interesting opportunity to talk about where I am as an artist, especially on the heels of this nomination. My present is moving so fast that each passing moment is practically the future already. And I’m in love with the ride I’m on.”
Check out Chika’s 2021 Grammys outfit above.
Chika is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Megan Thee Stallion — who came away with a Best New Artist win at last night’s Grammys ceremony — doesn’t believe that the awards show is inherently rigged. While some stars, like The Weeknd and Lil Wayne, spent the last several weeks railing against the Recording Academy’s “unfair” selection practices, Megan had a far more philosophical outlook on the results of the voting. Stopped by TMZ at some point over the course of the evening, Megan gave a straightforward response to their question about whether she had advanced awareness of the results.
“I didn’t know sh*t,” she replied. “Hell no, the Grammys ain’t rigged. Bitch, you win some, you lose some.” Asked about the importance of the wins for women, she just threw out her standard response: “Real Hot Girl Sh*t!”
The Grammys’ “snub” of artists like The Weeknd in multiple categories — and the singer’s reactive boycott of last night’s ceremony — have only contributed to the feeling that the Grammys have become more of a “popularity contest” in recent years, despite efforts to become more inclusive. However, as Cardi B pointed out, plenty of artists were nominated despite lack of mainstream recognition.
While it’s easy for artists who miss out to chalk their losses up to conspiracies and agendas, the truth is, a voting body comprised of such a broad variety of music industry professionals can hardly be expected to agree on anything, even if more efforts are made to include atypical entries on ballots and shortlists — and artists, who by nature are “sensitive about our sh*t,” to paraphrase Erykah Badu, are exactly the type of folks to take their ommissions personally and resort so using social media to publicize their sour grapes.
You can watch the video of Megan responding to the question of whether the Grammys are rigged here.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Between the pandemic and the barrage of artists criticizing them, the past few months have presented challenges to the Recording Academy. Despite all the hurdles they faced, though, they managed to put on a Grammys broadcast this year that was imperfect but still quite entertaining and about as good as could be done given the circumstances.
As was probably expected, the broadcast had fewer viewers than usual, as has been typical with big events during the pandemic; This year’s Super Bowl had its lowest ratings in over a decade. The Grammys also experienced a drop-off and it was significant.
Variety reports that per Nielsen Live+Same Day fast-affiliate numbers, the show had an average of 7.88 million viewers, earning a 1.9 rating with adults 18 to 49. That makes this year’s show the lowest-rated in Grammy history. For reference, last year’s Grammys managed to draw 18.7 million viewers and achieve a 5.4 rating in the aforementioned demographic.
The publication also notes that these numbers are not final and that final figures that take into account live West Coast viewing will be available soon. With that in mind, the final figure is expected to rise by about 15 to 20 percent in the official national ratings. That said, even if the 7.88 million viewer count rises by 20 percent (the generous end of the estimate), that would elevate it to about 9.46 million viewers, which is still around half of the count of 2020 Grammy viewers.
From the fraught first year that the Grammys acknowledged hip-hop, it was clear that the then-emerging genre and the old-Hollywood music business establishment that puts the show on each year would never see eye-to-eye. Hip-hop is a youth movement; the average age of the Recording Academy was well into middle age until very, very (seriously, like 2018) recently. Hip-hop comes from the experiences of mainly underserved Black, Latin, and Asian creators; the Grammys — again, until recently — have always been very, very white.
And while the Grammys have made a concerted effort to address its shortcomings regarding its treatment of rap and hip-hop, the genre itself has undergone massive changes since The Fresh Prince first led a hip-hop boycott of the 1989 ceremony to protest the Grammys not televising the new Best Rap Performance award. For one thing, The Fresh Prince is now better known for his extensive filmography and the extreme dad energy of his Instagram and TikTok posts than he is for his mic skills.
Meanwhile, the very attributes a rap performer must display to be taken seriously have changed from night to day. Rather than reeling off rapid-fire punchlines about how “Fresh” you are, you’re more likely to switch breezily from chattering double-time cadences to cool crooning. The synthesizers and programmed drums of the early years have given way to cavernous 808s thundering away over warped samples from classical music and drumless soul loops spinning away behind intricate, ultra-violent drug tales.
So, it’d be difficult for the Grammys to “get it right” even under the best circumstances. Yet somehow, incredibly, that’s exactly what the show managed to do this year — even if no one will ever be truly satisfied with the results. The field, which included projects from California newcomer D Smoke, Midwestern coke rap kingpin Freddie Gibbs, New Orleans mystic Jay Electronica, New York veteran Nas, and Motor City rhyme mechanic Royce Da 5’9, represented one of the most balanced group’s in recent memory, pulling from multiple regions, generations, and sounds, with one thing in common: A commitment to the original tenets of “dope rhymes over dope beats.”
And while any rap fan could find plenty to complain about — once again, there was a dearth of women nominated, despite the sharp uptick in overall representation over the past several years, and no artist nominated was under 30 — there’s going to be a breaking point between having legitimate concerns and just plain moving the goalposts. In prior years, the complaint went, “The Grammys are too commercial,” only selecting projects from artists with sales numbers and widespread press, letting the importance streams overtake the value of artistic vision.
While this is a position that’s already hard enough to defend, considering the subjective nature of artistic vision in the first place, the fact remains that the Academy took long strides in addressing those concerns this year. Acknowledging longtime underground favorites like Freddie and Royce, paramount musicianship from D Smoke, and the bulletproof legacy of someone like Nas, the Grammys sent a clear message: That they heard those prior years’ complaints and took them seriously.
So, of course, it’s only natural that rap fans find something else to take issue with — namely, Nas’ win over Freddie. While both albums were collaborative efforts between two of rap’s top technicians and a pair of well-established producers in Alchemist and Hit-Boy, the fact remains that Nas is the more recognizable artist between the two among Grammy voters. He’s been a perennial contender for Best Rap Album, and while playing “what if” is always dicey, it’s almost certain that a win for Freddie over Nas would have drawn just as many vocal protests after the Queensbridge icon was once again “snubbed,” adding to his double-digit list of losses.
The fact someone like Freddie Gibbs could even receive a nod is a victory in itself — especially when you consider how many other artists were considered snubs this year. Lil Baby had one of the most-streamed albums of 2020, a No. 1 single in “The Bigger Picture,” and many rap fans’ hopes riding on him to legitimize the trap rap movement in the mainstream purview. Despite multiple female artists releasing worthy projects in 2020 or late 2019, none were nominated. No year’s field could ever be perfect, but the Gibbs nomination proves the Grammys are trying.
It also shows that maybe just adding more Black, female, or “young” voters isn’t quite enough. There’s no guarantee that these measures will ensure significant variance between voters’ tastes — after all, Grammy voters also tend to run more “intellectual” and “refined,” which helps explain why rough-edged rappers like Lil Baby might fly under their radars. That said, the show’s producers picked up the slack elsewhere; newcomers like DaBaby, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and Roddy Ricch not only appeared on the show — one of the biggest platforms to help them launch their future bids for mainstream recognition — but Megan also won for other categories, while Chika and Doja Cat were mentioned among the Best New Artists of 2021.
Those moments count too. After all, Nas’ win was as much a result of his stature among Academy voters as it was a consolation for all the other golden gramophones he never got to display on his mantel. Cardi B pointed out as much before the show; just giving these under-the-radar artists the look helps them further their careers, which is the real goal. The Grammys aren’t the be-all, end-all. Like Nipsey Hussle — another Best Rap Album “snub” who won a different award posthumously the next year — said, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Perhaps that’s the view rap fans should take with the Grammys’ halting progress toward a more perfect relationship with hip-hop. While rap is too broad and diverse a genre to ever be able to honor every artist in every nook and cranny of rap’s various versions, there’s nothing wrong with giving them credit where it’s due, even as we ask them to consider angles they haven’t yet. That’s what they’re trying to do — heck, it’s what we should all aspire to do — and when even getting “snubbed” helps artists so much, that’s an effort that should be appreciated.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
At every Grammy Awards ceremony, there are winners and losers.
Here, though, “loser” is a relative term. If you’re an artist who is doing so well that you’re at the Grammys at all, it’s hard to imagine that you’re anything but a winner. That said, if you’re particularly confrontational, “loser” might be what you call somebody who was nominated for an award and did not win that award. On the flip side, you could say that some artists didn’t lose: they won the right to keep their title of nominee (at the cost of not getting promoted to winner).
Then there are cases where you don’t need to glass-half-full the truth to declare somebody was a winner, whether they went home with a trophy or two or otherwise excelled during music’s biggest night. Last night’s Grammys ceremony was full of people who had different levels of success, so let’s get into who thrived and who didn’t quite do that, as well as who offered some of the evening’s biggest surprises.
Winner: Megan Thee Stallion
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Meg had one of the best winning percentages of the night, taking home three of the four Grammys for which she was nominated — she won Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song (both for “Savage”), and Best New Artist, but didn’t claim Record Of The Year.
Outside of the awards themselves, Meg was notary-like with how she put her stamp on the evening. She and Cardi B made more modest-minded music admirers mad with a performance of “WAP” (more on that in a second). Even the Grammy Meg didn’t win, she kind of did win it. While Billie Eilish accepted the Record Of The Year trophy, she got behind the podium and mostly spoke about how Meg should have won it instead of her.
Loser: The structural integrity of “WAP”
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It’s true that “WAP” was probably the biggest song of 2020. It’s also true that it wasn’t made for TV (or for any audible medium at all, according to Ben Shapiro). So, when it was revealed that Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion would be performing the hit during the Grammys broadcast, fans were ready to see a non-insignificant portion of the song left on the cutting room floor. That was true to the extreme. The lyric sheet for this version of the track looked like a brand new Madlibs book. I’m sure Cardi and Meg did all they could to bring “WAP” to the Grammys and they still delivered an entertaining few minutes of television, but the performance came across like they didn’t secure the rights to the song, so they got as close to actually performing it as they could without getting into legal trouble.
Loser: Jhené Aiko
As is tradition, the Grammys took a very long time. Even before the actual ceremony, there was the also-lengthy Grammy premiere ceremony, which the Recording Academy roped Aiko into hosting. Between that and the actual show, it was a long, grueling day for Aiko and she didn’t even end up winning any of the three Grammys for which she was nominated.
Thankfully, Aiko is an optimist. The hosting gig was a personal triumph for Aiko, as she wrote on Twitter, “i conquered a major fear of public speaking today by hosting the freaking Grammy Premiere Ceremony!!” She was even cool with not taking home a trophy, as she tweeted, “i know what its like to lose… do u? do u?! lol,” later adding, “what a crazy day! but its all good. love you all so much.”
i conquered a major fear of public speaking today by hosting the freaking Grammy Premiere Ceremony!! thank you @RecordingAcad for having me!! see u at the show after i take this lil cat nap
In some ways, the Grammys are a popularity contest: If some no-name (not Noname) from the middle of nowhere made one of the year’s best songs, they’re probably not going to win a Grammy for it. The Recording Academy further proved that with their pick for Song Of The Year, as HER took home the prize over people like Beyonce, Roddy Ricch, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish. While HER is certainly a successful artist and “I Can’t Breathe” is an impactful song built on meaningful social justice themes, she’s not exactly a household name and her victory certainly left many viewers feeling like Michael Bluth:
Winners: Fans of normalcy
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Over the past year-plus, pretty much every aspect has been entirely different than it was pre-pandemic. That includes The Grammys, but the fact that the ceremony even happened at all is a grounding force. Yes, the show wasn’t really like previous broadcasts in any way, but it was also as close to normal as any sort of live music event has been since early 2020. Considering the circumstances, the Recording Academy excelled with their broadcast. Delayed ceremony aside, one thing music fans have been able to count on towards the start of the year is finding out what music and artists the Recording Academy “secret commitees” deserve to be honored, for better or worse.
Losers: Fans of normalcy
That said, the whole thing was a bit weird, right? During performances, there were probably too many cuts to Trevor Noah and other artists in the room to forcefully drive home the point that everybody was actually there IRL. Those shots just hit different when it’s just one or two people side-stage instead of a big seated audience. Then, when the performances were done, the golf-level applause didn’t make the Grammys seem as epic as they usually do. Going the NBA route and piping in artificial fan noise wouldn’t have been a bad move.
The Recording Academy faced an impossible problem, but they still managed to put on a functional and entertaining show that offered plenty of highlights and made you forget this is an atypical Grammy year. Ultimately, though, it often felt less than grand, which, again, is really nobody’s fault.
Winner: Performance aesthetics
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Sure, let’s flip this topic of Grammy normalcy around one more time. Usually, artists and their crews only have a few minutes to get an elaborate performance set-up onto the singular Grammy stage at the Staples Center. This year, though, the set-up made things different, arguably better. The multiple stages on-site allowed for performers to get their own look going in their own space, all with minimal time between performances. In an aesthetic highlight, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner were all able to take to a mini cabin in a mystical-looking forest, for example, it feels like that something that gorgeous may not have been possible in a traditional Grammy year. Lil Baby’s cinematic performance that addressed police brutality definitely wouldn’t have been an eighth as impactful on a traditional stage.
Surprise: Jojo Rabbit
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Taika Waititi himself would agree with this pick, as it seemed like he didn’t really expect the Jojo Rabbit soundtrack to win Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media over films like Frozen 2 and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga. Waititi offered a simple “Lol wtfffff” on Twitter in reaction to the news, and during his acceptance speech, he noted, “I guess they’re just giving Grammys to anyone now! I’ll take it, thank you.” He went on, “It was so long ago, I can barely remember anything about making that movie — but it seems like it’s never going to go away, and I’m happy about that.”
So, if you don’t remember the Jojo Rabbit soundtrack, it’s OK because Waititi probably doesn’t either.
Winner/Loser: Masks
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Whether this is a winner or loser is a matter of perspective. Audience shots at awards shows are usually the most fruitful vine from which to pluck plump, dank memes of celebrities who didn’t expect the camera to be on them at a share-worthy moment. In that regard, music fans and internet jokesters lose. Masks could be seen as a major victory for artists who didn’t pick up a trophy, though, considering a wearable specifically made to cover the lower half of your face makes it a heck of a lot easier to hide your disappointment when you come away from a category empty-handed. Frustrated cursing no longer has to be under your breath!
Winner: The entire Carter family
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The Beyhive would never let me hear the end of it if I declared Beyonce a loser, so thankfully, she had an amazing night. For years, she has been climbing up the all-time Grammy wins list, and she made history this year by picking up more trophies to become the woman and singer with the most Grammy victories.
That would have been enough to get her on this list, but that was just one aspect of a multi-pronged night for Bey. She and Megan Thee Stallion became the first women to win Best Rap Performance with “Savage,” and on top of that, her daughter Blue Ivy managed to become one of the youngest Grammy winners ever. Jay-Z was the only member of his immediate family to not directly win a Grammy this year, except even that’s not quite true since he has a writing credit on the “Savage” remix.
So, in what was perhaps the least surprising takeaway from the evening (or from any day, really), the Carter family is doing quite well.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
(@oranicuhh) 
! Makeup Artist Alana Wright created a beaming beauty beat on award-nominee 
love you all so much 
